What a Divorce Actually Costs in Minnesota (With Real Numbers)
A typical uncontested Minnesota divorce with an attorney costs $3,000 to $9,600 as of 2026. The court filing fee is $365 on top of that, unless you qualify for a fee waiver. If you do it yourself with the free court forms, your only cost is the filing fee. A traditional hourly retainer at our firm and similar firms has run a median of about $16,600 per case, across hundreds of closed matters.
Cost by route
| Route | What you pay | What you get | Who it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Do-it-yourself (court forms) | $365 filing fee. Forms are free from the Minnesota Judicial Branch. | You fill out, file, and serve everything yourself. No one reviews your agreement. | You and your spouse agree on everything, have no kids, no house, and no retirement accounts to split. |
| Online forms or doc-prep service | $200 to $400, plus the $365 filing fee. | Typed-up forms. No attorney of record. No one is responsible if the county rejects the filing. | Same as DIY, but you want help typing the packet. |
| Primary Divorce Resolution (fixed quote) | $3,000 to $9,600, quoted before you commit. Filing fee and any QDRO specialist fee are separate and disclosed up front. | An attorney of record for you. All pleadings and the decree drafted, filed, and served. Attorney review before you sign anything. | A regular divorce: both spouses located, steady income, at most one home, an agreement you can reach with some negotiation. |
| Traditional hourly retainer | Median $16,592 billed per case. One in four cases billed over $30,700. One in ten billed over $51,000. | Full representation with no cap. Hours are billed as they happen. | Contested cases, hidden assets, business ownership, custody fights, or anything likely to go to trial. |
Hourly figures come from Atticus Family Law's own closed cases. Other Minnesota firms will differ.
What our own case data shows
These numbers come from closed Minnesota divorce matters, 2020–2026, all billed hourly. Meanwhile, we assessed our data against other law firms as to their costs for normal cases as well. "Simple" means the 147 cases that settled without a trial phase and took fewer hours than the firm's median.
| Measure (median) | Simple cases | Other cases |
|---|---|---|
| Number of cases | 147 | 339 + input from other firms |
| Total hours of work | 28.5 | 62.1 |
| Billed | $6,615 | $16,592 |
| Collected | $6,466 | $15,908 |
| Time from open to close | 172 days | 266 days |
Note that for simple cases, about two thirds of the hours were paralegal time, not attorney time. That is part of why a fixed quote is possible for this kind of case.
What drives the price up
We ran a regression on 89 of those simple cases, matching each decree to its hours and fees. The things that added real cost were:
- Minor children. About +5 hours and +$1,700 per child. Parenting time and child support schedules take drafting and back-and-forth.
- Keeping the house with a refinance. About +15 hours and +$3,600. The decree has to handle the deadline, the buyout, and what happens if the refinance fails.
- Selling the house during the divorce. About +20 hours and +$8,300, though only 4 cases did this, so the range is wide.
- Retirement accounts split by QDRO. In the hourly data this added under 3 hours and about $660, which was not statistically significant. The real cost is the QDRO specialist who drafts the order, usually $300 to $800, often split between the spouses.
- Contested issues. None of the 89 simple cases went to trial. Across the full data set, the ones that did were the ones that landed in the $30,000 to $51,000 range above. A fixed quote is not offered for contested cases.
What the fee waiver covers
Minnesota lets you ask the court to waive the filing fee if your income is low enough or you receive public assistance. The form is called an In Forma Pauperis (IFP) application, and the judge decides. The waiver covers court fees only, not attorney or specialist fees. Read more in our guide to fee waivers and free divorce help in Minnesota.
Frequently asked questions
how much does a divorce cost in mn
It depends on the route. Doing it yourself costs the $365 filing fee. An attorney-represented uncontested divorce is $3,000 to $9,600 under a fixed quote. Hourly representation at a firm similar to ours has a median of about $16,600 and can run far higher if the case is contested.
average cost of divorce in minnesota
There is no statewide number, because firms do not publish their data. At Atticus Family Law and similar firms, the median across hundreds of closed cases was about $16,600 billed. For the simpler half of those cases, the median was $6,615. Your own number will depend on children, real estate, retirement accounts, and how much you and your spouse already agree on.
what is the average cost of divorce in minnesota
Across hundreds of closed hourly cases at Atticus Family Law and other firms, the median bill was about $16,600 and the median simple case was $6,615. Any average you see online without a source behind it is a guess." }); }); }); Array.prototype.forEach.call(document.querySelectorAll('a[href^="tel:"]'), function (el) { el.addEventListener("click", function () { awConv('call'); if (window.fbq) fbq('track', 'Contact'); }); }); })();